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Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 08/2011
  • B004SIDTR6
  • 352 pages
  • $9.99
Paperback Details
  • 08/2011
  • 978-0758246806
  • 352 pages
  • $10.60
Robin Reardon
Author
The Evolution of Ethan Poe
Ethan Poe, sixteen and gay, struggles for balance while his life conspires to pull him in many different directions. His parents are divorcing; his older brother Kyle is damaging his right hand in the name of purity; his best friend is a Jesus freak who prays for him to be straight; he’s desperate to get his driver’s licnese, but he can’t seem to get enough supervised driving time. He’s just starting to see light in the form of Max Modine, a boy he wants to know much better than he does, when his rural Maine town begins to explode around him. Against his intentions he gets pulled into a pitched and sometimes violent conflict about whether to introduce Intelligent Design into science classrooms. Friendships end, families are torn apart, and the school becomes a battleground. At the center of the fray is Etta Greenleaf, an older woman who has come out of relative seclusion to run for an open school board seat against the ID proponent. Ethan’s developing friendship with Etta and her fearsome dog is ironically both a haven from the vortex and the unavoidable path deeper into it. Always seeking elusive balance, Ethan finds his way through a maze of lost friends, new love, and the mysteries of tattoos and power animals, with help from quarters where he never expected to find it. And he gains something better than balance.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly

In Reardon's fourth novel (after A Question of Manhood), 16-year-old Ethan Poe fancies himself an "outlier" in smalltown Maine because of his goth wardrobe, his relation to the famous Edgar Allan, and his sexuality: he's gay. His best friend Jorja is goth, too, but also a devout Christian. Ethan's parents have just split up, and his older brother, Kyle, has reacted by diving headfirst into religion and, as the novel begins, trying to remove his "offending right hand." As things progress, Ethan hooks up with Max, a handsome classmate, just as his family is thrust into a townwide debate about including intelligent design in the science curriculum. This sparks a polarizing fight between fundamentalists and the secular citizens that turns quickly violent. Reardon's latest is mesmerizing, drawing readers into Ethan from page one, endowing him and all the characters with great depth, and building a slow-burning tension. Science, spirituality, and smalltown life combine for a rare book that will appeal to young adults and adult readers alike.

Formats
Kindle Edition eBooks Details
  • 08/2011
  • B004SIDTR6
  • 352 pages
  • $9.99
Paperback Details
  • 08/2011
  • 978-0758246806
  • 352 pages
  • $10.60
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